Shipping companies are turning to drastic and expensive measures to get cargo into the U.S. Many companies have started to charter air cargo planes.
The cost of this type of delivery is very expensive, costing as much as $2 million to charter one Boeing 777 flight through Trans-Pacific. Pre pandemic peak price for the same charter was about $750,000.
The shipping crisis is hitting all industries, causing a massive delay on many goods, including construction parts.
Officials say about 90% of the world’s traded goods travel across the oceans because the service cost much less than other means of transportation, mainly air travel. The situation is getting so bad, even Amazon is reportedly looking to buy secondhand cargo jets to alleviate its own shipping delays.
Cargo has been piling up at California ports where tens of thousands of containers are stuck. Once they reach the port, they will still sit for days, or even weeks because of ground shipping backups.
The solution of flying cargo into the states is now affecting commercial airports where a workforce shortage has already slowed things down significantly. Add the amount of cargo air traffic, and you have a compounded problem.
This situation is prompting construction machine owners to think ahead when it comes to ordering parts. Knowing a shipment could be delayed weeks or even months, machine owners are preparing by getting vital parts ordered ahead of time.
If you need parts, be sure to give ConEquip a call.
